Automatic animal-feeder.



G. GASPARI. AUTOMATIG ANIMAL FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1009.

Patented July 12,1910.

2 8HEET SBHEET 1.

WI TNESSES.

G. GASPARI.

AUTOMATIC ANIMAL FEEDER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1909. 963,866,Patented July 12,1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES CASPARI, F MIIAVAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

AUTOMATIC ANIMAL-FEEDER.

Application filed November 3, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

siding in Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin,have invent ed new and useful Improvements in Automatic Animal-Feeders,of which the following is a description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic animal feedingdevices adapted to be operated at predetermined periods of time wherebyanimals may be fed at different times without the necessity of personalattendance.

The feeder is particularly adapted for use in feeding oats to horses andis so constructed that the operator can fill the receptacles with oatsand set the clocks to discharge the oats from one of the receptacles ata predetermined time in the evening and to discharge the oats from theother receptacle at a predetermined time the next morning.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an animal feederwhich is adapted to operate a plurality of times with one setting of themechanism.

Vith the above, and other objects in view, the invention consists of theanimal feeder and its parts and combinations and all equivalentsthereof.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which the same referencecharacters indicate the same parts in all of the views; Figure 1 is afront view of the complete feeder, parts broken away and other parts insection to show interior construction; Fig. 2 is a rear view of theclocks, used in controlling the feeder, and connections; Fig. 3 is aplanview of the clocks shown in Fig. 2 and the releasing levers; Fig. 1 is aside view thereof; Fig. 5 is a central vertical sectional view of thereceptacle for charging the feeders; Fig. 6 is a front view of amodified form of feeder; Fig. 7 is a plan view of the clock andreleasing lever for operating the modified form of feeder; and Fig. 8 isa plan view thereof.

In the drawings the numeral 10 indicates a hopper provided with acentral partition 11 which divides the hopper into two com partments 12and 13 having discharge openings 14 and 15 formed in the bottom thereof.A discharge pipe 16 provided with an enlarged upper end 17 coveringdischarge ends of both compartments is positioned below Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented July 12, 1910.

Serial No. 525,998. X

l the hopper and is adapted to guide the mate- Be it known that I,CHARLES CASPARL rerial discharged from either compartment into a feedtrough 18. The discharge of material from the hopper discharge openingsis controlled by means of valves 19 and 20 suspended from valve rods 21and valve chains 22. The rods are guided by passing through openings ina guide bracket 23 connected to the upper portion of the hopper. Thevalve chains 22 extend upwardly from the rods 21 and pass over pulleys24 and 25 and depend from the pulleys 25 and are fastened to stop bolts26. Opening chains 27 provided with weights 28 on their lower ends andpassing over pulleys 29 are connected to the valve chains at pointsclose to the pulleys 25 when the valves are in a closed position.- Valvetipping members 19 are positioned within the enlarged portion of thedischarge pipe and are adapted to tilt the valves when dropped to openposition in order to provide a clear passageway for the material. Thedepending portions of the chains 22 pass through openings in brackets 30and are adapted to be engaged by the short arms of releasing levers 31pivotally connected to said brackets. The short arms of these releasinglevers are shaped to be inserted in the chain links and to hold saidchains taut, when the valves are covering the discharge openings of thehopper. The long arms of the releasing levers project forwardly from thebrackets and are positioned in the path of movement of the alarm windingkeys 32 of alarm clocks 33 and 3 l or of automatic time releasing meansof any de sirable construct-ion whereby at predetermined periods of timethey may be released to permit the weights to lift the chains and openthe valves. The clocks 33 and 34; are held in clamping rings 35 formingparts of a support-ing bracket 36 which is adapted to be fastened to theside wall of a building in which the device is installed. The clocks areprovided with stop arms 37 and 38 adapted to be moved into thecircumferential paths of movement of the rotary alarm bell hammers 39 toprevent the operation of the alarm mechanism. A stop arm moving lever 40pivoted to the clock 33 and having one arm in the path of movement ofthe alarm winding key of this clock is provided with a link 40 pivotallyconnected to its upper end and the opposite end of the link is connectedto the stop arm 38 of the clock 34 so that when the alarm of the clock33 rings, its winding key will move the stop arm levers and link. Thestop arm 38 which is normally set in the off position will be moved bythe link into the on position and the alarm winding key will bepermitted to turn, and the releasing lever to disengage the chain whenthe hands of the clock reach the time to which it has been set to ringthe alarm.

For convenience in charging the hopper with feed a charging device isprovided which consists of a receptacle 41 having an angularlypositioned discharge spout 42 provided with a gravity closing valve 43.A valve opening rod 44 rigidly connected to the valve and extendingthrough the lower portion of the spout is provided with a bent portion45 adapted to be hooked over the top edge of the hopper to open thevalve and discharge the contents thereof into said hopper. A guide rod46 is connected to the valve and extends through an opening in a bracket47. The charging device is elevated to the hopper by means of the longhandle 48 forming part of the device.

The modified form shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 is similar in every respectto the principal form with the exception that the hop per has only onecompartment and only one clock is necessary to release its valve.

The operation of the feeder is as follows: The clocks are wound and thealarm mechanism set and the valve chains which are drawn taut to closethe valves, are engaged by the releasing levers and the long arms ofthese levers are positioned on top of the winding keys of the alarms.The charging device is now filled with material and raised to the hopperand when the bent portion of the valve rod is hooked over the edge ofthe hopper wall and the handle pulled clownwardly the receptacle will bemoved away from the valve and discharge its contents into one of thecompartments. The same operation is repeated to fill the othercompartments. The alarm mechanism of the clock 33 must be set to ringfirst to open the valve of the compartment 12 and the move ment of thewinding key of this mechanism will turn the stop arm moving lever andmove the stop arm of the clock 34 to the on position so that when theclock hands indicate the time to which this alarm has been set its alarmmechanism will operate and open the valve of the compartment 13. It isof course obvious that both clocks cannot be set to open the valves atthe same hour of the night and the morning, as this would cause bothclocks to release the valves at the same hour the first clock was set tooperate at. Also the first clock must not be set to operate at an hourin the evening previous to the hour which it is desired to operate thefeeder the next morning, as this arrangement would cause both clocks tore lease the valves the same evening. When the hands of the clock 33have reached the time indicated by its alarm mechanism its winding keywill be turned and will release the valve chain associated therewith andthe weight connected thereto will lift the chain and allow the valve 19to drop by gravity and discharge the contents of the compartment 12 intothe tube and to the trough below. Simultaneously with this movement justdescribed the stop arm moving lever will be turned by the same windingkey and the alarm mechanism of the clock 34 set to the on position sothat it will operate in the same manner as the first clock when thepredetermined time is reached by its hands.

The weights serve to lift the valve chains and relieve the valves ofthis weight and permit the valves to open by gravity.

The modified form of feeder operates in a manner similar to the clockfirst operated.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the device is verysimple in operation and construction and is inexpensive to maintain.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An automatic animal feeder, comprising a plurality of receptaclesprovided with discharge openings, valves covering said openings, aplurality of automatic time releasing means provided with revolublemembers, a connection between the releasing means for preventing theoperation of one of the releasing means until after the operation of theother releasing means, releasing members positioned to be locked by therevoluble members, and connections between the valves and the releasingmembers to permit the valves to drop from their seats in successiveorder when the releasing members are actuated by the revoluble members.

2. An automatic animal feeder, comprising a plurality of receptaclesprovided with discharge openings, valves covering said openings, aplurality of automatic time releasing means provided with revolublemembers and with stop arms, means connecting the revoluble member of onetime releasing means with the stop arm of another time re leasing meansto cause their operation in successive order, releasing memberspositioned to be locked by the revoluble mem bers, and flexibleconnections between the valves and the releasing members to permit thevalves to drop from their seats in successive order when the releasingmembers are actuated by the revoluble members.

3. An automatic animal feeder, comprising a hopper provided withcompartments and with discharge openings, valves covering said openings,flexible connections supporting said valves in closed positions andpassing over pulleys, alarm clocks provided with alarm winding keys andwith. stop arms, levers positioned to engage the flexible connectionsand the winding keys, and a connection between the winding key of oneclock and the stop arm of another clock to release the alarm mechanismof the latter clock so it may operate at a predetermined period of timeafter the operation of the former clock and release the valve actuatedthereby.

4. An automatic animal feeder, comprising a hopper provided withcompartments and with discharge openings, valves covering said openings,flexible connections supporting said valves in closed positions andpassing over pulleys, a pair of alarm clocks provided with alarm windingkeys and one of said clocks provided with a stop arm, levers positionedto engage the flexible connections and the winding keys, a stop armlever positioned to be engaged by one of the winding keys and having aconnection with the stop arm to move said arm to release the alarmmechanism so it may operate at a predetermined period of time after saidmovement.

5. An automatic animal feeder, comprising a hopper provided with twocompartments and each one having a discharge opening, valves covering'said openings, guide rods connected to said valves and depending fromsupporting chains which pass over pulleys, a pair of alarm clocksprovided with alarm winding keys and one of said clocks provided with astop arm, levers positioned to be inserted in the links of the chainsand the opposite ends thereof in engagement with the winding keys, astop arm lever positioned to be engaged by one of the winding keys andhaving a linked connection with. the stop arm to move said arm torelease the alarm mechanism so it may operate at a predetermined periodof time after said movement.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES CASPARI.

lVitnesses C. H. KEENEY, ALMA A. KLUG.

